Wednesday, 15 October 2014

the best of fashion month (part 3)

Yohji Yamamoto SS15: PFW

Source: style.com

Yohji Yamamoto’s Spring/Summer ’15 collection appears as if from underground
19th century Paris. The models stalked the runway liked haunted
seductresses; each movement simultaneously sultry and subtly menacing.
Mismatched and outsized, the clothes hung loosely, but with bare shoulders,
thigh slits and tiny crop tops, the collection had an unprecedented amount of
sex appeal. Yamamoto has purposefully avoided ever created a collection with
such a sensual approach. Until now.

Yamamoto’s starting point for the collection was swathing fabric freely on a
woman’s body because he “enjoys the feel of fabric against skin.” The simple, baggy
tailoring appears to seamlessly blend comfort with style. Although simplistic monochrome
overpowered the collection, bursts of gold towards the end served the purpose
of making people “wake up.” This intention is questionable, however, because undoubtedly,
the monochrome looks were the most powerful and interesting of the collection.

The hair and makeup reinforced the 19th century atmosphere, as
the dusty eye shadow and waxed hair made it appear as though the models had
come back from the dead. Alongside the spontaneously draped fabrics baring
shoulders and thighs, this questioned natural beauty. The helmets scattered
across the collection also created a ghostly tone. Style.com suggest that Yamamoto
used this accessory to make the point that we must protect the mind; protect
the imagination.

The closing look was a ghostly Miss Havisham-esque creation; put together
using fresh dahlias and orchids. A driving force behind the collection was
Yamamoto’s view that “sexuality and flowers' beauty for me are the same.
Flowers are not always beautiful; women are not always beautiful. It depends on
the conditions.” There was a delicate beauty to the collection reminiscent of
the delicacy of sexuality and flowers alike. Lightness and fluidity added power
to the collection. It felt very natural, linking again back to flowers and
sexuality.

Yamamoto’s SS15 collection reinforces his place as an iconic designers,
showing how he is unafraid to deviate from his usual direction in order to
experiment with different breeds of elegance. He blends timeless monochrome pieces
with visionary, avante garde accessories.

Comme des Garçons SS15: PFW

Source: style.com

Love, lust, danger, energy, power, passion, strength, desire…If there is one
colour on the spectrum that is the most abundant with strong connotations, it
is red. That is why it is curious to contemplate Rei Kawakubo’s decision to
focus her entire Spring/Summer ’15 collection on this single potent shade. Kawakubo
explored many of these associations through the idiosyncratically deconstructed
pieces that made up the collection. Powerfully thought-provoking and
experimental as ever, this season was a strong one for Kawakubo.

The clothes themselves inspired a range of emotional responses. The first
includes fabric shaped to appear like roses, immediately bringing to mind
connotations of love. A later look made up from small cut up pieces of fabric
comes across as more dangerous and the hooded looks could be from Little Red Riding Hood, or from M. Night
Shymalan’s The Village. One piece
strays from the dominant colour scheme in that a red pattern is splattered onto
a white background. This could be reminiscent of spattered blood, creating a
much darker tone.

Kawakubo manipulates the power of the colour red to create pleasant,
romantic vibes, contrasted starkly against a lot of darker tones. Some outfits
appear light-hearted; others not so much. The importance of colour is no more
obvious than when the second hooded look comes out. Instead of the bright red
shade, the hood is black. This immediately has darker connotations and creates
a drastically different tone to the red hooded figure seen previously. The
model’s face is shaded and the red inspires thoughts of blood and danger. The
collections closing look, features not quite a hood, but what appears more like
a plastic bag. Is Kawakubo suggesting death; murder, even? It feels that way.

Comme des Garçons is one of the most memorable SS15 collections, if not only
for its colourful consistency. It proves that colour is not just random; but
purposeful and powerful. Tavi Gevinson recently did a piece for The Times’ Style in which she discusses colours.
Apparently red lipstick is inappropriate for the office because studies have
shown that red makes people think of vaginas. Oh.

Chanel SS15: PFW

Source: style.com

The collection itself was an optimistic celebration of individuality. Models
walked down the Parisian boulevard in pairs and groups, creating an atmosphere
much more natural and applicable to everyday life than Lagerfeld’s past
collections. The clothes were a bright myriad of colourful tweeds and floral
prints reminiscent of water colour paintings. Sartorially, it felt as though
every age demographic was represented; cute floral mini dresses to smart monochrome
suits to comfy slouched tweed looks.

The collection, however, was overpowered by the show itself. Although this
is often the case with Lagerfeld’s presentations, this time it was true to a
greater extent than ever before. People rushed to social media to express their
opinions on the protest march that closed the collection. Some spoke of it in a
positive manner, emphasising that anything that brings feminism into the
conversation is progressive. However, others believed that signs like “Boys
should get pregnant too” and “Féministe
mais Feminine” trivialised and poked fun at the movement. Furthermore, commercialising
protest and using it to sell clothes does seem rather distasteful given what is
going on in Hong Kong at the moment. Lagerfeld cited 1960s women’s liberation
movements as his inspiration, but feminism is still an important cause today. If
done by a designer who seemed to genuinely support feminism, created powerful
slogans and included a wider range of ethnicities, ages and body types then it
might have worked. However, Lagerfeld (who has previously stated that Chanel
was not ugly enough to be a feminist) clearly did not meet such requirements.

Nonetheless, the collection
as a whole did have very Gabrielle Chanel vibes. The women strolling down the “Boulevard
Chanel” were confident, independent, individual and daring; all qualities that
were to be admired in the brand’s founding designer. The protest at the end may
have been questionable, but signs like “Be Different” and “Make Fashion Not War”
worked wonderfully with the theme of sartorial confidence. One thing is certain; Chanel SS15 will not easily be forgotten.

ABOUT

Hi I’m Sophie. I’m a writer and freelance fashion journalist based in Kent/London. I keep this blog to document my interests and various style inspirations. You can contact me at sophie.wilson09a@hotmail.co.uk